Heat Treatment Case Studies from the Front Lines
Bed Bug University—2014 Bed Bug Summit
by: Eric Braun BCE, Rentokil North America, and bed bug technical service manager.
Eric discussed why and how heat treatment is a good option for killing bed bugs. He stated that heat treatments lower risk to people and pets. Heat kills all life stage of bed bugs from egg to adult often on the first treatment. It also works in concert with any chemical treatments that may have been applied in recent past.
Bed Bug Heat Treatment Preparation
Use of heat equipment requires several considerations:
- Are the floors and walls made out of concrete?
- If so, does it have cracks where bugs can move into to escape heat?
- Are there large open spaces?
- Will the customer prepare and declutter according to his company's guidelines?
- What is the accessibility to a power source if using electric heaters?
Professional Heat Treatment Company
As a professional heat company you will need to search for any “cold” spots. If there are some areas that still have some clutter you will need to arrange clutter in a manner to optimize airflow. Areas with high infestation (such as a sofa) may need to be heated separately. Cluttered areas will require an extended amount of time to heat versus the average 7 hours on a job. Hold times (at critical heat point temps) for an empty room are about 2 hours, but for rooms with clutter it may take 4 or 5 hours. Eric searches for cold spots about every hour using special temperature monitoring devices and adjusts heaters and fans as necessary.
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